I shared yesterday how I went from being a cold, stoic introvert to a warm, outgoing, cuddly teddy bear. OK that is a bit of a hyperbole, but I changed a lot because I knew I had to if I was going to succeed as a servant of Jesus. I had to relate to people if I was going to influence them, teach them, and lead them as their pastor. I strengthened my strengths, compensated for my non-strengths, and learned new skills. I didn’t have to be locked into a particular way of acting even though I was most comfortable in that role.

My strengths are that I am very goal-oriented, highly motivated to accomplish my goals, very focused, obsessed, and driven to achieve my goals. I manage my time well and achieve a lot in a short amount of time compared to many. I lead well and motivate and inspire people to work together to achieve important goals. This is who I am by God’s design, it is my temperament and giftedness.

What I do easily and naturally I have tried to teach to many people so that they can acquire it as a skill. My strengths, abilities, and gifts are very beneficial in ministry and those who learn the skills that I have enhance their ministry effectiveness a lot.

But I have experienced a lot of resistance and pushback from people-oriented extroverts, who are intuitive, free-flowing, gracious, and relaxed in temperament and personality. Their argument is that is who God made them so they are just going to be and act the way they are, and not learn to act more like me, even if it does improve significantly what they are able to accomplish with their life.

I made a concerted effort to change, grow and learn the skill of being a relational genius; well at least I moved up from being an idiot, if not a genius. I did that though I was not comfortable in that role because I knew it was necessary to be a successful servant of Jesus.

It bugs the heck out of me that there are so many who refuse to make an effort to improve their skill set in order to be more effective as a leader and servant of Jesus, and they remain mediocre in the results of their life. And then they excuse and justify their lack of fruit-bearing by saying “I yam who I yam, and that’s all I yam.”

Those of you my age know that was one of Popeye the Sailor Man’s main sayings. “I yam who I yam, and that’s all I yam!” We all are born with temperaments, bents, personality types, gifts, and abilities. Patty and I had eight children, and they were all very different from day one. Six and seven were twins, so their differences were even more apparent. There are a lot of different tests available today to tell us what kind of person we are. They are very helpful in understanding ourselves, but I often hear people using their temperament or personality type or even their spiritual gift to excuse irresponsible or lazy living. “I yam who I yam,” implying that I can’t change, or grow or learn skills, because that is just the way “I yam.”

One of the reasons that I was so reluctant to leave the dairy to become a pastor is because I knew what I was like, and it didn’t seem compatible with pastoring people. I was painfully uncomfortable around people I didn’t know, and being in a situation where I had to enter into conversations and make small talk would literally cause me to break out in a sweat. For year’s I justified being a relational idiot as a pastor because “I yam who I yam.” Then I started meeting with Dr. Joe. At one of our lunch encounters, he said, “You are standing before Jesus at the end of your life at the ‘Judgment seat of Christ’ and He asks you how many people you influenced to follow Him, and you say none because You made me shy.” “How do you think that will go over with Jesus?” And then he gave me one of his classic sayings, “Strengthen your strengths, compensate for your non-strengths, and learn and practice skills.” You can learn to play the piano even if you aren’t gifted in music, you can learn how to sell cars for a living even if you are an introvert, and you can learn how to carry on a meaningful conversation with anybody, anywhere though you would rather be fishing by yourself. He suggested that I read the books, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie and “Relational Intelligence” by Steve Saccone. I read both and have read dozens of similar books in the 30 years since that impactful meeting.

When I was Freshman in College the school that I attended had a popularity contest. It wasn’t really a contest; it was just a class survey that everyone filled out. There were several categories that each student was supposed to put a name behind, “Most likely to succeed, ” Smartest, ” “Most liked, ” and several other categories. I remember two things about the survey, I wasn’t in the top ten in any of the categories, and Patty Burtner, now Patty Duke, was voted “Most liked or Most Popular.” How we got together and ended up marrying is a mystery to everyone who knew us both.

So if you wanted to win the “Most Popular” category and had six months to impress, influence, and win people over to voting for you, what would you do, how would you act?

2 Timothy 2:24-25 has a description of what to do. “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition,”

There are two reasons to work hard at being liked; one is because of your ego, the second is because you want to increase your ability to influence people toward faith in Christ. The fact is the more people genuinely like you, the more influence you have in their life.

When I started Pastoring, I had several mentors that I met regularly with, experienced Pastors and leaders who taught me how to succeed in ministry. One of them was Dr. Joe Aldrich who was President of Multnomah Bible College. I learned a lot from him, and I remember a lot of what he taught me because he had these “sayings” that he would repeat regularly. One of them was, “We are supposed to love everybody but some are easier to love than others, if you are going to Pastor people you have to be loveable, people won’t learn from or follow someone who is not.”

The first time he said that I thought, “I am in trouble; I probably ought to go back to dairy farming.” Over the years I have made being a person that people like a major pursuit of my life. It really helps being married to Patty and learning from her because she really is very lovable. I have read many books on the subject and observe those who I enjoy being with and try to learn from them.

I often hear people say, “I don’t care if people like me or not, ” or, “that is just the way I am, take me or leave me.” I used to say that because I am an introvert, not very outgoing or personable but as Dr. Joe often said, “we have the ability to grow and change, especially if our motive is pure. We are not changing who and what we are, we are changing how we act.”

Back to 2 Timothy 2:24, “ The Lord’s bond-servant must. . .” That means it is required and that we can.

Mark 3:14 Jesus appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach,

Luke 10:1 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

Today Jesus appoints or chooses believers to do His work. There are qualifications that the Lord has set to be one of those He gives assignments and opportunities to. We need to know what they are and actively work at making them reality in our lives.

Yesterday I described what I call the first requirement, and today I will write about the second.

If we are going to be a servant of Jesus we must make serving Him the highest priority of our lives, it is first place in all that we do and value in this life. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a job, own a house, go fishing, and play computer games, but it does mean that we have those other activities under control and that we would never pass on an opportunity the Lord would give us because of a life out of balance.

2 Timothy 2:4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

What is required is a continuous evaluation of our lifestyle and use of time, and that we are constantly working at simplifying our life. We pick up new stuff that needs to be taken care of, and of course used, routine activities that become part of our life, and addictions like a magnet draws iron filings. Every year I rent a 10 yard dumpster and we fill it. Where does that stuff come from? It just drops out of the sky!

If the first requirement is genuine in your life, that is you have a super strong desire to serve the Lord and do something with your life that matters, then you must often ask the question, “how am I doing exercising self-control over the lust of the world, keeping my life simple, managing my time well, and keeping serving Jesus first place in my life.

Regular, honest, serious self-examination of priorities is required of those who are servants of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul called himself the Lord’s bond-servant at the beginning and in most of his letters that he wrote. Jesus invited us to be and Paul encouraged all those who read his letters to be the servants of Jesus doing His work on this planet. When Jesus was here on the earth as a man, He was His method of accomplishing His work on this world. But now He is in heaven and His bond-servants are His method in accomplishing His work. The servants of Jesus are the ones He works through to accomplish His will and plan on earth, that is His method and strategy. Being a servant of Jesus is where the action is.

Today there are many who are believers in Jesus, Christians, but they are’t His servants. I compare it to a basketball team of 15 players, but only five are on the floor playing, striving to win, the rest are on the bench. The critical question is, “do you like being on the bench?” I played basketball in High School and college and spent most of my time on the bench, and I hated every minute of it. I can find a dozen requirements in Scripture that need to be in our life if we are going to be worthy to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus in this world.

The first requirement to be a servant of Jesus is that you must have a strong desire to be used by Him, to do something with your life that matters for all eternity, you must want it, really want it. This is what it means to be hot instead of lukewarm. Every morning I declare to Jesus that I want to be His servant, and I plead with Him to give me more to do for Him. A casual desire that says, “I will serve Him if it works out, if it is convenient, if I have time, if I am not to tired, doesn’t cut it with Jesus.

A great place to start this journey is to ask yourself how hot you really are.

I am in the Steens Mts archery hunting for deer and elk. So one of my many titles in life is “hunter,” I am a hunter. I don’t usually kill anything when I go hunting, but I am still a hunter. I own several guns, a number of bows, camping gear, and I buy a hunting license every year. I am a hunter! I also am a fisherman, and I actually catch fish! I am a husband. I am a father. I am a grandfather. I am a pastor, and I am many other positive, and good things.

Paul who wrote most of the New Testament said, “I am an Apostle of Jesus Christ.” He also said, “I am a bond-servant of Jesus Christ.” The requirements to be a hunter are pretty simple and few. It entails mostly spending money on stuff hunters own and then going hunting, simple, you are in the club.

Being a bond-servant of Jesus is much more demanding. Very few Christians are servants of Jesus, most Christians don’t even care if they are or aren’t. But even if they did aspire to being a servant of Jesus they probably wouldn’t meet the requirments. Jesus is the one who set the requirements, and He is the one who decides if you are worthy of being called His servant.

Our salvation is free, not earned; no one is worthy of going to heaven apart from Christ’s worthiness. But just because we are not worthy of heaven doesn’t mean we are not worthy of other things. We can’t be good enough to earn heaven, but that doesn’t make us worthless or good for nothing. If you are going to be a servant of Jesus you must first be worthy of the title.

Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Philippians 1:27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Colossians 1:10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

2 Thessalonians 1:5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.

What are the qualifications for being considered a worthy disciple of Jesus? Good question! Tomorrow.

One of the indicators that we are getting close to the end of the story, God’s story, is that there will be an increase in Natural disasters. When Jesus used the word earthquakes describing the end times it is very probable that He was talking about all natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes.

I was reading a news commentator’s blog and he said that this year will probably go down as the worst year in human history. I don’t know if that was based on some factual information or his emotional response to current events. He went on to say that he doubted if we would ever see another year like this one ever again. I thought to myself, “you are in for a rude awakening, ” because it is going to continue to get worse at an accelerated pace.

As things do get worse I remind myself that God gives His strength to those who are living for Him, to those who are serving Him. The worse it gets the more strength He gives. Also the worse things get the more people will turn to faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They will turn to Jesus not only because of the hard times but because of the joy, peace, and strength that those who are fully devoted followers of Jesus have.

Most Christians are lukewarm, they are not fully devoted followers of Jesus. They are so entangled in the affairs of everyday life that they have no time to serve Jesus or energy. I was talking to a pastor of a church and he said that the worse things get the harder it is to get people to volunteer and serve in the church. Nothing amplifies lukewarmness like personal crisis, people become all about taking care of themselves.

A major principle to remember is when we serve the Lord by serving and helping others, and by being a functioning part of His church He serves us, but when we make taking care of ourselves our main focus He lets us do it. It isn’t hard for me to figure out who will do the better job of taking care of my family and me.

One of my biggest challenges hunting over the years is that my eyesight is terrible, even with glasses. I was born with bad eyes, not sure if that was my Mom’s fault or my Dad’s, they both had good eyesight. I wore glasses until High School and then I got contact lenses and then when I was 40 I had eye surgery, and now back to glasses. The best my eyesight has been through all that is 20/40, but it is good enough to get my drivers license.

My son Sam, on the other hand, has excellent eyesight. As he was growing up I encouraged him to look out the window for deer whenever we drove anywhere which he did. As a result he trained his brain to see deer or elk even if it was just a very small part of their body showing. When he was just a little kid I would take him hunting with me because he would always see the deer and elk when I wouldn’t. This morning I took Sam’s youngest son James who is 12, hunting with me to be my eyes, it was our first time as a team, so I am not sure if he is as good as his Dad.

In ten verses Matthew 23:16-26, Jesus calls the Pharisees blind five times. “Woe to you, blind guides. . .You fools and blind men. . . You blind men. . .You blind guides. . . You blind Pharisee,

What did He mean by the word blind? He was talking about the eyes of their heart being blind, and as a result they couldn’t understand spiritual truth. I would much rather have bad vision physically than spiritually.

The condition of so many people today is just like those during Jesus day who crucified the Son of God.

Matthew 13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.’

Jesus healed the physically blind during His life on the earth, and He can heal the spiritually blind today. Jesus heals the eyes of the hearts of those who come to Him and declare their desire to see, and those who are prayed for by others who know they are blind and need healing.

I pray for every person in JBC every week and part of what I pray is Paul’s prayer for those in the Ephesian church.

Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

I am at the Steens Mts in SE Oregon archery hunting for deer and elk with my son Sam and his family. We drove about 7 hours yesterday to get here and then we took several hours to get our camp set up. Today was the opening day of hunting, but I didn’t have time yesterday to get everything unpacked and organized that I needed to hunt, so I slept in until 8:00 am. I climbed into my one-person tent and crawled into my sleeping bag at 9:00 pm last night and slept 10 hours straight only waking up once. We are camped at 8,000 feet elevation and for some reason I sleep super good here. I am now sitting in my pickup, having driven about a mile from the camp where I have a little bit of cell service to read my emails, write this blog and send it, read the news (ugh), do my Bible reading and Scripture memory online, and call Patty.

The Steens Mts are one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to, with huge canyons and gorges, quaking aspen groves, and lakes and streams full of trout.

Every year when I come here I am reminded of Romans 1:18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

I clearly see God’s invisible attributes, His eternal power, and His divine naure when I am up here. It amazes me that people can actually believe that all of this came into existence without any intelligent designer and creator, just by chance.

But it is easier to ignore God, make up your own rules, and do what you want when God, if there is one, is an uninterested bystander. The world today is a result of people making the rules instead of God. I wonder how much longer it can go on like this.

Patty and I went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary, and I was so impressed with the people who served us. They were either very well trained, naturally friendly, and intelligent, or all of the above. The food was great, but what made our time in the restaurant memorable was how we were treated. We had never been to this particular restaurant before, and I picked it out because it was rated to be the number one restaurant in a 20-mile radius of our house due to all the reviews.

I got to thinking about our church and how important it is for regular attendees to be like our waitresses and waiters to those who visit JBC on weekends. Those who visit are often unfamiliar with church services and what happens and are a bit nervous about the experience. People who are friendly, accepting, and sensitive can make a visitor feel very honored and help make their time with us memorable.

Many who are now visiting our church are looking for answers to life’s problems, security, joy and peace as a result of the very turbulent times we are living in. The worship time and the teaching from the Bible are very important but nothing is as powerful to draw seekers to faith in Christ as people who demonstrate by their love that what is taught from the pulpit is true.

It is hard to get people to break away from their friends and family and spend a little time with strangers, but it is so important that many do if we truly want people who are seeking God to find Him when they visit our church.